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The head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Thursday said he expected to back Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and the other two governor-appointed Senate Democrats who are expected to seek election in 2010, but he refused to go further and explicitly commit to fending off primary challenges to the new members.

In addition to Gillibrand, the group is likely to include Sen. Michael Bennet, tapped by the Colorado governor to fill Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s seat, and possibly Sen. Roland Burris of Illinois, who took President Obama’s spot in the Senate. A fourth appointee, Sen. Ted Kaufman, D-Del., who replaced Vice President Joe Biden, has said he will not seek election next year.

“These senators that have been appointed by their governors have been working hard to establish in their own right their values with the states they represent,” said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., the DSCC chairman. “They are working really hard to make their mark in the Senate. I feel very confident that they will be in a good position to run and win.”

But asked if he would keep the Democratic field clear for the appointees — to ensure they avoid a potentially bruising primary — Menendez would say only that he “would presume that any of the appointee candidates who decide to run will have the support of the committee.”

The issue is a very real one for Gillibrand, whose relatively moderate voting record while representing the 20th congressional district has put her at odds with some liberal Democrats and downstate voters. It also prompted Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., to threaten a primary challenge.

Menendez called Gillibrand a “hard charger,” who is working to assuage her new constituents.

“She is working extremely hard to both understand and represent the diverse nature of New York state,” Menendez said. “I think she’s doing a very good job of it. And I’m pretty convinced that by the time the primary process rolls around that she will have convinced her fellow Democrats that she deserves their support and can move on to the general election.”

Asked if he was helping to convince Democrats to back Gillibrand — and not to challenge her next year — Menendez would only say: “She is doing a great job of positioning herself, and I will leave it at that.”

Menendez praised Gillibrand as “doing a fantastic job.”

Asked if Gov. David Paterson made the right choice in appointing Gillibrand to fill Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s seat, Menendez said: “She has shown already why the governor obviously had confidence in her.”

National Democratic leaders have more room to equivocate when it comes to who they support for the Senate seat Gillibrand now holds, because New York is not a purple state with a largely moderate electorate that is likely to elect a Republican to the U.S. Senate. The political calculation is different in swing states, such as Colorado, which have recently elected Republican senators; there, any Democratic primary fight could provide a major opening for a Republican challenger.

All of the appointed senators who run for election face daunting challenges, including what political experts say is a traditional resistance from voters to incumbents they did not elect to office.

They also may struggle to define themselves in front of voters; a major question is whether they campaign as newcomers or senators running to keep the seat to which they were appointed.

Menendez said each of the appointees would choose what was best for their states.

“We let each one of these senators decide for themselves how they best strike a responsive chord with their electorate in their respective states, and that varies,” Menendez said. “Some of them will see that as showing their mark over the next year and a half as they move to election mode. Some of them already have histories of performance in other jobs.”

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Jennifer A. Dlouhy covers energy policy, politics and other issues for The Houston Chronicle and other Hearst Newspapers from Washington, D.C. Previously, she reported on legal affairs for Congressional Quarterly. She also has worked at The Beaumont Enterprise, The San Antonio Express-News and other newspapers. Jennifer enjoys cooking, gardening and hiking. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and toddler son.

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